Liquid can filling machine



y 1934- w. s. STEVENS LIQUID CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l y 1934- w. G. STEVENS 94 LIQUID CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1934- w. G. STEVENS LIQUID CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 y 22, 1934- w. G. STEVENS 1,959,694

LIQUID CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 llllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllmllllIIIIIIIIIIUUIWUHIN E E1 IIIIIII Patented May 22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to liquid can filling machines; and has special reference to machines that are designed and adapted for use in filling cans with liquid substances with accuracy and pre- 5 cision, and weighing the filled cans with their contents, in combination with mechanism controlled and operated automatically and as an incident to the operation of the machine for preventing the liquid from discharging from the de- '10 livery passages when no can is in position to receive the liquid.

Heretofcre, in filling cans with liquid by machines of the type to which the present invention relates, difficulty has been encountered in pre- 15. venting liquid from discharging from the delivery passages and in maintaining the delivery passages filled with liquid, so that the cans into which the liquid is delivered will be completely filled with liquid to the exclusion of air from the liquid.

Unless the delivery passages are accurately controlled, the cans will not be filled with equal amounts and weights of liquid as is desirable. For instance, if some of the passages are kept completely filled with liquid before the cans are placed 5 in position to receive the liquid from the passages and other passages are not completely filled with liquid but are partly empty before the cans are placed in position to receive the liquid therefrom, unequal amounts and weights of liquid will be delivered into the respective cans because liquid is discharged from the delivery passages only during a definite period during the cycle of operation of the machine. Accordingly, if liquid is discharged from some of .he passages during the entire delivery period and is discharged from other passages for times less than the entire delivery period, it is clear that unequal amounts of liquid will be discharged into the respective cans; and an object of the invention is to provide a machine designed and adapted to operate in an efficient and satisfactory manner to overcome these and other disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a liquid can filling machine having novel means and 0 operating devices therefor controlling the discharge of liquid through the delivery passages in a better and more efiicient manner than has heretofore been accomplished in machines of this character.

Other objects of the invention will be made apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation with parts in section 5 showing one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an outer side elevation with parts in section of the devices shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view with parts in section and other parts broken away of the devices illustrated 1n Figs. 1 and 2.

Re. 4 is a plan view of a part of the machine showing the valve operating mechanism, parts being in section.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing an alternative form of delivery passage and valve therefor.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the valve unit, the valve stem being in section.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the unit containing the delivery passages.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the delivery passage unit approximately on the line 88 of Fig. '7.

The machine in which the present invention is embodied comprises a vertical shaft 1 supporting a rotary frame comprising an upper frame portion 2 on which an annular container 3 is mounted. The container 3 is provided with an annular series of discharge outlets 4 opening through the bottom of the container into outwardly extended angular passages 5 constituting filler heads. A fitting 6 (Fig. 1) is attached to the upwardly extended outer end of each of the passages 5 and supports a cluster of curved tubes 7 forming passages for receiving and conducting the liquid from the passages 5. In the specific embodiment shown in Fig. l. of the drawings, the curved tubes 7 have their discharge ends extended downwardly and attached to a frame 3 constituting an abutment for the upper ends of the cans 9 or other receptacles into which the liquid is discharged.

An annular series of plates 10 (Figs. 1 and 3) are supported below the discharge ends of the tubes 7 and constitute supports on which the cans 9 are initially mounted. A pair of elevator ele ments 11 extend for vertical sliding movements through each plate 10 and are attached to the upper end of a frame comprising two vertical parallel rods 12 having their lower ends connected by a yoke 13 (Fig. 2) by which a roller 14 is supported on a horizontal axis.

For each can support 10 a frame 15 is attached to the lower portion of the frame 2. Each frame 15 supports a scale beam 16 (Fig. 1). These scale beams have pivots 17 mounted on the respective frames 15 and have rollers 18 on their outer ends and scale weights 19 on their inner ends.

Each discharge passage 4 is controlled by a slide valve 20 mounted for vertical sliding movements in a guide 21 and operatively connected to the inner depending arm of a bent rod 22. The outer ends of the rods operate in guides 23 attached to the receptacle 3. A spring 24 encircles the outer end of each rod 22 and has its upper end abutting against the guide 23 and its lower end bearing against an abutment 25 attached to said rod 22, so: that the power and energy of said spring 24 acts to move the rod 22 downwardly to position to close the valve 20. The lower end of each rod 22 is connected by a link 26 with the outwardly extended arm of a bell crank lever 27. The bell crank lever 2'7 is sup ported on a pivot 28 and has its other arm connected by a link 29 with a radial slide 30. The

* slide 30 is mounted for radial sliding movements in a guide 31 and frame 15 supportedby the lower portion of the frame 2. Thus, it is clear that outward sliding movement of any slide 30 will raise the valve 20 to open position and permit measured portions of the liquid contents of the container 3 to pass through the outlet 4 and thence through the passage in the cluster of tubes 7 into the receiving can 9. Also, it is clear that, when the rod 22 is actuated downwardly by its spring 24, the connections from said rod 22 will move the slide 30 inwardly. The inner end of each slide 36 is connected by a link 32 and pivot 32 with one arm of a bell crank lever 33 mounted on a pivot 34, the upwardly extended arm of said bell crank lever being actuated outwardly by a spring 35. The pivot 32 never reaches a straight line between the dead center of pivot 34 and slide 30, so that the link 32 does not become locked in its outward position.

' Each frame 15 has an upwardly extended portion 36 (Figs. 1 and 2) provided with a slot 37 through which the scale beam 16 extends. Each plate is attached to and supported by the upper end of a support 38 mounted for vertical sliding movements in the upper extension 36 of the adjacent frame and held from turning with respect thereto by a pin-in-slot arrangement 38 The lower end of the support 38 extends into the slot 37 and supports a roller 39 operating on a rounded shoulder 40 rigid with the scale beam 16. Thus, when the outer endof the scalebeam 16 is raised by the weight 19, the plate 10 is thereby "raised until the scale beam engages the upper wall of the slot 37; and, when the outer e'ndoi the scale beam 16 is lowered, the plate 16 may move downwardly.

Once during each revolution of the container 3, each valve is opened and is kept open long enough, and onlylong enough, to permit discharge from the container 3 of a sufiicient amount of liquid to fill the receiving can 9. At the proper position to effect this operation, a cam 41 is located and operatively supported by a support 42 in position to be engaged successively by rollers 43 on the outer ends of the slides (Figs. 1 and 3) and thereby move the slides 30 outwardly as required to open the valves 20, as already described. This cam 41 holds the respective valves 20 open only long enough to permit latch devices to be brought into action to prevent closing of the valves until the cans have been filled. When the respective rollers 43 pass beyond the cam 41, the springs 24 would immediately act to close the valves 20 except for latch devices that prevent such action. Due to the fact that the valves 20 are at the head of the liquid contained in the passages 4, 5 and 7, and due to the fact that said passages are completely filled with liquid to the exclusion of all air, no more liquid will be discharged from said passages after the valves are closed, and all liquid in said passages will be retained therein because of capillary attraction and other resisting forces, and because air cannot enter said passages. Accordingly, there will be no drip or discharge from the tubes 7 when the filled cans 9 are removed, nor will any excess amount of liquid be discharged from the tubes '7 into any of said cans. All cans will be filled or charged with an equal amount of liquid. However, if, for any accidental reasons, the cans should be unequally filled, this fact will be clearly indicated by the scale or weighing mechanism comprising the scale beams 16 and the elements 19 in connection therewith.

Gages for the cans are provided on the respective plates 10. The gage for each plate 10 comprises a pair of arms 44 mounted on a pivot 45 and arranged to receive between them and form abutments for the respective cans (Fig. 3). These gage arms 44 have in connection therewith pins 46 operating in curved slots 47 in the respective plates 10. This permits the outer ends of said arms 44 to be moved toward and away from each other. Accordingly, when the cans are seated properly between the gage arms 44, said cans are in position to be raised against the frame 8 to receive the liquid discharged from the passages '7.

An electro-magnet 48 (Fig. 1) is equipped with an armature core 49 which is raised when the electro-m agnet is energized to a height above the upper end of the vertical arm of the lever 33 in order to permit said lever33 to be moved forwardly by rearward movement of the slide 30 and the link 32. When the slide 30 and the link 32 move inwardly or rearwardly, the lower arm of the lever 33 is moved downwardly, because the pivot 32 is below dead center, thus moving the upper arm of said lever 33 forwardly during the time that the armature core 49 is up. One wire 50 of the electro-magnet 48 leads to a circuit wire 51 and the other wire 52 of the electro-magnet leads to a contact member 53. A cooperating contact 54 is attached to the end of the scale beam 16 and is connected with the electric circuit wire 55 byawire 56. Accordingly, when the rear end of the scale beam 16 is raised by the weight of the full container, the electric circuit to the electromagnet is closed, said magnet is thereby energized, and the armature core 49 is raised and upheld to permit inward movement of the slide 30 when said slide 30 is actuated by the valve closing spring 24.

A bar 57 is rigidly supported in position so that the roller 18 will pass under said bar before the full can 9is removed from the support 10, which full can caused the outer end of the scale beam 16 to lower and the inner end to rise and clo-se'the electric circuit above described, and thereby energize the electro-magnet 48. The bar 57 continues to hold the roller 13 down until an empty can is received on the support 10 and until the cam 41 ture core 49 out of the way of the lever 33 just when the can is completely filled, so as to permit the corresponding valve 20 to be closed. The valve 20 cannot be closed so long as the lever 33 engages the armature core 49. This operation is performed for each valve devicewhen the corresponding can is filled and once during each revolution of the machine. The filled cans are removed and empty cans are substituted therefor during the time that the respective valves 20 are closed, which is during the interval that the lever 33 is out of engagement with the armature core 49, during which same interval the roller 43 is out of engagement with the cam 41.

An arm 58 is mounted on a pivot 59 on the rigid frame part 60, and the free end of saidarm 58 is actuated upwardly by a spring 61 mounted on a link 62 extending through the frame part 60 and having its upper end pivoted to the arm 58. The free end of the arm 58 is seated on a roller 63 on one end of a lever 64 that is pivoted to the upper end of a plunger 65 mounted for sliding movements in a guide 66 and actuated upwardly by a spring 67. The other end of the lever 64 has a lateral projection 68 extending below the piece 69 which is engaged by the pawls '10. The piece 69 is attached to the lower ends of rods '71 mounted for vertical sliding movements in guides 72. The cam 41 is attached to and supported by the upper ends of the rods '71 and is movable vertically thereby to and from position to cooperate with the rollers 43. When the cam 41 is in its raised position, it is in cooperative relation to the rollers 43; and, in its lower positicn, the cam 41 is below the plane of the rollers 43 and is out of cooperative relation thereto. The pawls 70 normally engage under the piece 69 and support said piece 69 in position in which the cam is elevated for cooperation with the rollers 43. The pawls '70 are pivotally supported at 73 and have their upper ends pivoted to a lever 74 pivoted for lateral swinging movements on a post 75 (Fig. 2). Obviously, if the lever '74 be operated properly, it will disengage the pawls '70 from the piece 69 and thereby permit the cam 41 to move downwardly by gravity to position below the rollers 43. A spring 76 actuates the pawls 70 toward the piece 69 and thereby causes both pawls to engage said piece 69 inasmuch as the upper ends or" both pawls are pivoted to the same lever '74.

In order to raise the cam 41 to cooperative relation with respect to the rollers 43, it is necessary to operate the lever 64 by depressing the roller 63 and thereby raising the extension 68 at the opposite end of said lever 64. This is automatically performed by the approach of the mechanism supporting the can that first moves toward filling position.

When any can support 10 without a can thereon passes the filling space, the roller 14 operates along the lever 58. The spring 61 is of sufficient strength to support and raise the frame 12 and member '77 (Figs. 1 and 2) on the yoke 13 to operate against the inner surface of the lever '74 and thereby move the free end of said lever '74 outwardly and move the opposite end of said lever inwardly a distance suificient to disengage the pawls '70 from the piece 69 and permit the cam 41 to move downwardly, so that said cam 41 will not be engaged by the roller 43 corresponding to the vacant or idle can support 10. This prevents operation of the slide 30 by the cam 41 and thereby prevents the valve 20 from being opened, because said valve 20 is operated by the connections from the slide 30.

In this way, discharge of liquid from the passages 7 is prevented unless a can is in position to receive the discharged liquid and, immediately after the roller 14 leaves the arm 58, the elevator elements 11 move downwardly below the upper surface of the plate 10 in order not to interfere with the operation of the weighing device.

When the next can support 10 with a can thereon approaches can filling position, the frame 12 is held in its lower position because the upper end of the can is against the rigid abutment 8. The roller 14 then operates along and depresses the lever 58 in opposition to the spring 61 and thereby causes said lever 58 to depress the roller 63 and operate the lever 64. This operation of the lever 64 causes the projection 63 on said lever 64 to raise the piece 69 and thereby the cam 41. This operation is sufficient to place the piece 69 above the supporting portions of the pawls 70 (Fig. 1) and to place the cam 41 in position for engagement by and cooperation with the roller 43, so that, as the can is carried through the can filling space, the valve 20 is opened and held open core 49 dropping in front of the upper part of the bell crank lever 33, and liquid is discharged into the can. Thus, the machine operates automatically to fill cans that are in proper position, and is automatically conditioned to prevent discharge of liquid when there is no can to receive the liquid, and is also automatically conditioned to cause liquid to be discharged when another can approaches filling position to receive the discharged liquid.

In the variation of certain features of the invention shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, the liquid container 78 corresponds to the liquid container 3 and supports an annular series of members '79 provided with non communicating passages 80. A concavity 81 is formed in the upper end of the member '79 and opens into all of the passages 80. The concavity 81 constitutes a valve seat for an inverted conical valve 82 mounted on the lower end of a rod 83 shaped and operated and guided precisely like the rod 22. The lower end of the rod 83 is mounted in a guide 84 in connection with a valve cage 85 attached to the upper end of the member '19.

The members '79 dispense with the passages comprising the parts 4, 5 and 7 and thus permit the machine to be constructed more compactly because laterally extended portions are unnecessary. When the valve 82 is moved to its seat 81 so as to close the passages 80, liquid contained in said passages will be retained by capillary attraction and other resistances so that, when the cans 86 are removed, there will be no drip or discharge of liquid from the passages 80.

In operation, the frame 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 87 (Fig. 3), thus rotating the container 3, the can supports 10 and the valve operating mechanism. When any of the supports 10 are without cans thereon, the valves corresponding to said supports are not opened because the members 77 of the units that are without cans operate the lever 74 effectively to release the pawls '70 from th piece 69 to cause the cam 41 to drop below position to engage the rollers 43 of the idle units.

When the units with cans mounted thereon in position to receive liquid from the discharge opening approach can filling position, the supporting frames 12 are held down by the cans 9, thereby depressing the lever 58 (Fig. 2), causing said lever 58 to operate the lever 64, and causing the lever 64 to raise the piece 69 to its upper position (Fig. 1), and thereby place the cam 41 in position to be engaged by the rollers 43.

Before any roller 43 engages the cam 41, the scale beam 16 is operated to the position shown in Fig. 1, thus energizing the electro-inagnet 48 and raising the armature core 49. Before the amount of liquid has passed from the container 3 to fill the receiving can 9. Immediately after the lowering of the armature core 49 the roller e3 passes from the cam 4 1.

When the can is filled with the required amount of liquid, the scale beam 16 is again operated to close theelectric circuit to the electro-inagnet 48. When the circuit is closed to the electro-magnet 48, said magnet is energized and the armature core 49 is immediately raised out of latching engagement with the lever 33. When the armature core 49 is unlatched or disengaged from the lever 33, the spring 24 immediately acts to close the valve 20, thus preventing discharge of any additional liquid from the container 3.

It will be understood by those skilled in this art that the machine may be constructed and conditioned so as to discharge exactly the correct amount of liquid during each filling operation, so that the cans will be filled with equal amounts and weights of liquid.

After each can is completely filled, it .is removed and an empty can substituted therefor while the machine continues in motion. The empty cans are, of course, placed on the machine while the corresponding valves are closed. As the empty cans approach can .filling position, the corresponding rollers 43 engage the cam ll, thus opening the valveand, thereafter, the scale beam device 16 operates to de-energize the electro-magnet and permit the armature core 49 to drop to latching position, aspreviously described. 7 V

The specific gravity of fluids putintocontainers in all other can filling mechanism, where hot ,fiuids that flow freely are used, restricts the flow beyond a certain size on account of splash from the container. This restriction of flow governs the output of the machine and, because of the desire to increase the capacity of the can filling machines, these discharge spouts are made as large as possible, and from these large ,discharge outlets there always followsmore or less drip of the fluid after the valve is supposed to cut off the flow.

In my plan of aseriesof discharge outlets, each small streams specific gravity .is notsuf- .ficient to cause a splash and the intermingling of many small streams at the bottomof the container further hinders any tendency to splash, or air being carrieddowninto the fluid,.as.is the case where one large stream isemployed. This plan of a series of small streams does.not, limit the number of, streams that maybe used. and,.-for this-reason, th capacity of my can ,fillingmachine is notlirnited by the flow of the fluid. into the container, as is true where a single large stream is employed; and .it has further been found that the capillary attraction of tubes or discharge outlets of inch inside diameter is sufficiently small to allow the use of this size tube for hot viscous fluids. When theflow fromall discharge outlets is snapped off, each discharge outlet is left filled'withthe fluidtothe endof v.the discharge outletwith nofurtherlfiow or drip ofany kind from any of these smaller outlets after the valve cutting oiT the flow to these out- .lets has been closed. This is important as it keeps the fluid cit the cans, off the labels, and off the machine.

It ;is now .clear that my improved machine is automatic in its operations and can be served by one or two attendants and kept in constant operaself unessentially, but what I claim and desire to secure by Letters'Patent is:--

l. ,A machine of the character described comprising acontainer for liquid having a discharge outlet passagaa rigid filler head having aplural- .ity of passages communicating with one end of said outlet passage for conducting liquid from said outlet passage, a valve for opening and closing said outlet passageand for causing said passages toretain theirapproximate capacity of liquid when said valve is closed, a device for supporting a can in position to receive liquid from said plurality of passages, and connections positioned by said device for operation other than'by said device for opening and closing said valve.

2. A machine of thecharacter described com- ,prising a container for liquid having a discharge outlet passage, a filler head having a plurality of capillarypassages communicating with one end of said outlet passage'for conducting liquid from said outlet passage, means for supporting a can inposition toreceive liquid from said plurality of passages, mechanisnrfor opening and closing said outlet passage, and means positioned by said supporting means for operation other thanby said supporting means for operating said mechanism to open and to close said outlet passage at predetermined intervals and cause said capillary passages to retain their approximate capacity of liquid when said outlet passage is closed.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a container for liquid having a discharge outletpassage, a filler head having a plurality of capillary passages communicating with one end .of said outlet passage for conducting liquid from said outlet passage, a valve for opening andclosing said outlet passage, a support for holding a .canzin position to receive liquid from saidplurality .of passages'means for operating said support to -.position to holda can in position to receive liquid fromsaid plurality of passages, and devices positioned-,bysaid means for operation other than by said means and said can for opening said valve when ,said can isernpty and then closing said valve when saidcan-is filled and thereby causing said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid.

4. Amachine of the character described comprising a rotary container for liquid having a discharge outlet passage, a filler head having a plurality of capillary passages communicating with ing and closing said outlet passage, mechanism for supporting and moving a can to position to ,receive liquidfrom said plurality of passages during rotation of said, container and for moving said can from saidposition after said can has received a predetermined amount of liquid from said plurality of passages, and devices positioned by said can supporting mechanism for operation other than by said can and said mechanism for opening said valve to discharge liquid into said can and then to close said valve and thereby cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid after a predetermined amount of liquid has been discharged into said can.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a rotary container for liquid having a discharge outlet opening, a filler head having a plurality of capillary passages communicating with said outlet opening for conducting liquid from said outlet opening, a valve for opening and closing said outlet opening, mechanism for supporting and moving a can to position to receive liquid from said plurality of passages during rotation of said container, devices other than said can and said mechanism for operating said valve to open and close said outlet opening, means for operating said devices to open said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said plurality of passages and for closing said valve and thereby causing said capillary passage to remain filled with liquid after a predetermined amount of liquid has passed from said plurality of passages into said can, means controlling operation of said mechanism to move said can from said position after said can has received a predetermined amount of liquid from said plurality of passages and after said valve has been closed.

6. A machine or" the character described comprising a rotary container for liquid and having a plurality of capillary passages for conducting liquid therefrom, a device supported for rotation with said container for supporting a can, a valve for opening and closing said passages, mechanism for moving said device to position to support a can thereon in position to receive liquid from said passages, connections for opening said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said passages, means for operating said connections to close said valve and thereby cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid after a predetermined amount of liquid has passed from said passages into said can, and means controlling operation of said support to move said can from said position after a predetermined amount of liquid has passed into said can and after said valve has been closed.

'1'. A machine of the character described comprising a container or liquid, a rigid filler head having a plurality of capillary passages communicating with said container for conducting liquid entering said passages from said container, a valve controlling flow of liquid from said container into said passages, a device for supporting a can, mechanism for operating said device to move can to position to receive liquid from passages, connections other than said can timed to open said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said passages, and means for operating said connections to close said valve and thereby cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid after a predetermined amount of liquid has passed from said passages into said can.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a rotary container for liquid, a rigid element supported by said con ainer and having a plurality of capillary passages for conducting liquid from said container, a stationary frame, a device supported for rotation with said container for supporting a can, m ans supported for rotation with said container for operating said device to move the can supported thereby to position to receive liquid from said passages, a valve controlling flow of liquid from said container through said passages, connections for opening said valve, parts supported by said frame for operating said connections to open said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said passages, means for weighing said can and its contents when a predeteri amount of liquid has entered said can, and means for operating said connections to close said valve and thereby cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid after a predetermined amount of liquid has entered said can.

9. A machine of the character described comrising a container for liquid, a rigid filler head having a plurality of capillary passages cornmunicating with said container for conducting liquid therefrom, a valve controlling flow or" liquid through said passages, con ections for opening and closing said valve to cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid while said valve is closed, a support for supporting a can position to receive liquid from said passages, a stationary frame, means supported below said container for operating said support to move said can to position to receive liqui from said sages, means supported by said frame for operating said connections to open said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said passages, and mechanism for closing said valve when a predetermined amount of liquid has entered said can.

10. A machine of the character described com" prising a container for liquid, a rigid filler head having a plurality of capillary passages communicating with said container for conducting liquid therefrom, a valve controlling iiotv of liquid through said passages, connections for opening and closing said valve to cause said capillary passages to remain filled with liquid while said valve is closed, a support for supporting a can in position to receive liquid from said passages, a stationary frame, means supported below said container for operating said support to move said can to position to receive liquid from said passages, means supported b-y frame for operating said connections to open said valve after said can has been moved to position to receive liquid from said passages, and means for operating said connections to close said valve after a predetermined amount of liquid has entered said can.

WELLINGTON G. STEVENS. 

